Stanley Kubrick and the Loo

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I wrote earlier this year about my love for the films of David Lean, which has been one of my favorite posts to date. But in my personal pantheon of film directors, Stanley Kubrick holds a special place. Offbeat, quirky, and often bizarre - there just isn’t anything remotely similar to his cinematic resume.

And there are some classics - several films that would be in my top 10 or 20 list….2001: A Space Odyssey, Full Metal Jacket, the Shining, probably more.

But here’s the thing. The dude had a thing with bathrooms. Virtually every movie he made had at least one major scene set in the loo, the water closet, the lavatory. And often crucial scenes that represent turning points in the plot.

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Note: I am not the only one to notice this oddity, by the way. The internet overflows with cinematic analysis and conspiracy theories when it comes to Kubrick. The bathroom theme shows up often. You can taste the dialogue here, here, and here.

But I did arrive at the observation independently. I mean, after watching 2-3 of his films, it quickly becomes obvious.

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So let’s share some examples…

Take for one of his earliest pictures - Dr. Strangelove. Towards the end of the film the characters of Captain Mandrake and General Jack D. Ripper (hilarious names by the way…) are talking, with Mandrake holding a ridiculous - and not at all phallically symbolic - machine gun. Ripper steps into the bathroom, closes the door, and promptly commits suicide!

Not to be outdone, a few years later Kubrick makes 2001, about as different a picture as you can imagine from Dr. Strangelove. A cold war satire versus science fiction idea opera. Yet again he jams a couple of bathroom scenes in the screenplay. First a quick shot at Dr. Heywood Floyd getting a primer on the zero gravity toilet…then at the films climatic unraveling, Dave Bowman considers the mysteries of life in some sort of artificial space hotel, complete with the latrine and all.

It goes on and on. As documented by many, Kubrick sets pivotal scenes in restrooms again and again…

Spartacus - a bathhouse spa with homoerotic symbolism.

Lolita - the restroom is a refuge for the main character Humbert, as it is for Alex DeLarge in A Clockwork Orange. In both cases, their propensity to take shelter in the bath tub accelerates their undoing.

Kubrick’s last picture - Eyes Wide Shut - famously jumps into the bathroom before the opening title sequence is even over!

And should you think that an early 19th century historical epic that takes place during the Napoleonic Wars would be tough to insert a toilet…I give you Barry Lyndon:

But make no mistake, Kubrick dials up the toiletry in two films in particular…The Shining and Full Metal Jacket.

In Full Metal Jacket, the film proceeds for 20+ minutes before two characters have anything resembling a normal conversation. Of course, it takes place in the bathroom…where Joker and Cowboy commiserate a bit…the first bit of humanity we’re allowed to partake.

But more critically is Private Pyle’s demise…in the same bathroom. There we witness the outcome of his dehumanization at the hands of the system. He is fully transformed - as was intended - into a killer and a monster. But like a misdirected missile, he unleashes his rage on Sergeant Hartman and himself.

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And then there is The Shining.

Woo boy, does Kubrick really go for it here. At least four pivotal turning points occur in bathrooms, every time bending the plot arc in a new and twisted direction.

The first is with Danny and his imaginary friend Tony. They are discussing the upcoming move to the hotel, and then Danny has his first vision of what is to come. It sets the template for bathrooms as THE location for emotional transition.

Midway through the film, Jack investigates the famous room 237 and finds the woman in the bathtub. Here the hotel chips away at Jack’s sanity, plunging him into its surreal and confusing grip.

The film picks up pace as the hotel seeks to finalize its control over Jack, culminating in an intense discussion between him and Delbert Grady. There among the urinals and sinks, Jack is twisted and manipulated further into madness.

Then, as the visions of Danny come to life and the otherworld bleeds into the real world, Jack snaps and begins his attack on his wife and son, leading to one of the most famous scenes of 70’s cinema…in the bathroom of course.

Notice how each bathroom has a unique color palette, indicating a different emotional state. There is the soft, intimate pink in the first bathroom where Danny and Tony bond. Room 237’s jealously green and yellow paint. The mens room, intensely red like a blood oath. Then finale occurs in the colorless family bathroom, the door and walls reflecting white rage and terror.

The links I provided above go into much theorizing as to why Kubrick repeated the bathroom motif over and over. They detail how in Kubrick’s telling the restroom represents death, or allows for emotional connection (because it’s a place where we are most ourselves, most vulnerable.) Or is it that Kubrick saw it as a natural location to show humans at their most raw state?

All probably true to a point…and I have no doubt that Kubrick did this deliberately and that it ultimately makes for more powerful scenes and cinema.

But I also think perhaps he was simply a little twisted.

A genius…yes. But a weird one.

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Disclaimer:

All content and opinions are solely those of the author (Jack), and not representative of my employer, former employers, clients, anyone in Congress, my family, former college roommates, Baptists, the good citizens of Oregon and Colorado, or my dog Mabel.